AMD Consumer vs Professional Graphics Cards for video file conversion

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BoydPro

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I do audio for video work. I do not game, do CAD, or graphics work. I do however do a great deal of video file conversions from mkv, mp4, m4v and the like. I have a '12 core' i7-3930 and a GTX 660 in my workstation, and my laptop has an i7-4700MQ with integrated intel graphics.

Imagine my surprise when my laptop destroyed my workstation doing video file conversions over 40% faster! I now understand that NVIDIA chokes their game cards in some way from doing these kinds of tasks? What a crock.

In the thread where I learned this http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2336330/wrong-workstation-graphics-card-slower-notebook.html I saw someone mention that AMD doesn't cripple their gaming cards like NVIDIA does.

"The other counterpoint is you really don't need a Firepro, AMD does nothing to cripple their gaming cards for doing work, they just optimize and improve for Firepro and offer enterprise support on the drivers like Nvidia. Really the cost difference is about certification and support, at the heart they are the same GPUs."

So my question is: Since I'm not using any specific high end CAD or Graphics Software for which I would need those specific high end drivers, do I really need a pro card or would something like a Radeon R9 290X do the trick? Would the Radeon at least be an improvement over the GTX 660? I'm really just looking for something that would at least equal or better my laptop for around $350. -Or less if possible.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks for reading.
 
Solution
Eggz
See if you can enable the card for your software.

I know that Adobe programs don't officially support the GeForce lineup, but you can just upon a text file and type in the name of your card to enable it. Your software might have a simple hack like that, and it would be totally free if you can find it.

Just from looking up your Nero program, however, I see that this is listed as a selling point of the feature, which makes me think you can enable CUDA accelleration on your existing GTX 660:



Click the quote to see the page...
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COLGeek

COLGeek

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Pro grade GPUs have optimized drivers that are designed for the accuracy required for pro applications. Consumer GPUs are all about raw power.

While this comparison is very basic, the idea is that each simply has a different use. That is not to say that you can't game with a pro GPU and do pro apps with a consumer GPU. One is just more optimized than the other for their intended use.

For both Nero and Sorenson, do you have the GPU enabled for processing?

Depending on the app versions installed: https://support.sorensonmedia.com/customer/portal/articles/1410985-h-264-gpu-acceleration-in-sorenson-squeeze

http://forum.nero.com/nero_eng/topics/nero_recode_2014_nvidia_cuda_hardware_acceleration_disabled_after_geforce_340_52_driver_update_any_solution

Some apps are also more optimized to use CUDA, OpenCL, OpenGL, etc than others. Not all applications can offload rendering tasks to the GPU.

 
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Eggz

Eggz

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See if you can enable the card for your software.

I know that Adobe programs don't officially support the GeForce lineup, but you can just upon a text file and type in the name of your card to enable it. Your software might have a simple hack like that, and it would be totally free if you can find it.

Just from looking up your Nero program, however, I see that this is listed as a selling point of the feature, which makes me think you can enable CUDA accelleration on your existing GTX 660:



Click the quote to see the page. People do have some trouble with it from what I read, but the option is there (since 2009).

I'm also seeing that there is CUDA support for Sorenson. You should be able to get it going because the coding supports your hardware.

If you want to check for yourself, here is the official list of accelerated programs supporting Nvidia GPUs.
 
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BoydPro

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Yes. In the scenario where my laptop converted 40% faster, I did in fact have hardware acceleration enabled in the software with the GTX 660 in the workstation.
 
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lfkfkfkffs

lfkfkfkffs

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I do security work for a living and sometimes it requires me to do some crypto based stuff with my GPU, when I first built my workstation it used some Firepro that I paid like $5000 from 3 years ago and then 1 year and a half later my friend bought a 270x I think it was and it was 10% better than my super expensive firepro. Since then I only use gaming cards for my work, and haven't noticed to much difference in them between the firepros and the gaming cards. I currently use 290x X2 in my work rig and it just destroys everything. Your software probably benefits the same way my stuff does, you just get more performance from lots more of stream processors. Maxwell Gpu's also work decent for this stuff but I've noticed you pay about 40% more for performance.
 
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TheAterix

TheAterix

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random question, but what job do you do?? sounds really interesting as im looking to go into the pc field after my GCSEs!
 
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Eggz

Eggz

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In that case, just get a newer Nvidia card. By "crippled" I thought you meant that it wasn't supporting CUDA in your applications, but I went a read your link more carefully. It seems like the person your talked to there was pointing out that the 660 in particular lacks solid CUDA performance.

The Quadro K6000, which costs more than $4,000, is just a 780 ti with more VRAM, running Quadro drivers. It's the fastest Quadro, but you can get similar performance from a GeForce card. I'd render a test video on my 780 ti for you if I had your software just to time it, but I don't have either of those programs. Maybe find someone who does to test a video you upload for them.

As for AMD, there are plenty of good cards. Anything from the R9-series that is 270 up will be plenty powerful to give you a good boost. I wouldn't go with a professional card, though, until you find out for sure that the new gaming cards are in all cases significantly slower for your applications. They have the same processors, but usually from the previous generation, and will cost you much more money for a less powerful card that is intentionally dialed back in performance in order to increase stability.
 
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lfkfkfkffs

lfkfkfkffs

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I work as a pentester mostly, but I also do research in forensics and malware analysis/indecent response. I just can't say it what it actually is because the mods get sensitive even when you bring up the would hash or password.
 
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TheAterix

TheAterix

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just inbox me about it, im just looking for ideas haha
 
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